Spool-bluing.



'No. 728,608- PATENTED MAY 19, 1903.

A. K. PHILLIPS.

SPOOL BLUING.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 5, 1901.

N0 MODEL.

. Z ziinesses: Even/i0 9":

UNITED STATES Patented May 19, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

SPOOL-BLUINQG.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 728,608, dated May 19,1903. Application filed October 5, 1901. Serial No. 77,680. (No model.)

I companying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevational view of a spool having bluing-paper woundupon it.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the same on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a detail view of a piece of bluing-paper, showing the same roulettedor perforated withoutbeingcrimped.

Fig. t is a similar View showing a piece of corrugated or flutedbluing-paper. Fig. 5 is a detail View showing the paper embossed byletters, so as to elevate or depress certain portions of the surfacethereof. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is adetail edge view showing a form of crimped z 5 paper, and Fig. 8 is adetail edge view showing the preferred form of corrugated or flutedpaper.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in spool-bluingof that character wherein the fugitive pigment is carried by a paper orany other suitable base, the same being preferably made in strip formand for convenience of use is perforated or rouletted, so that portionsthereof may be con- 3 5 veniently detached for use.

I am aware that paper has been used to carry bluing for laundrypurposes. This has'been done by saturating and coating the paper with aproper pigment by simply dip- 40 ping the paper in the pigment, layingthe pigment on by brush or by means of rollers, the application beingmade to both sides or to one side of the paper, as desired, the paperbeing arranged in sheets or strips, which are placed in envelops orgathered into book form.

In the instances above referred to there has not been fixed an exact andconvenient measure of the quantity or portion of the product which wouldenable the user to color without previous experimentation any specialamount of water-say, for instance, the contents of an average-sizedwashtub of twenty-gallon required to produce the best results.

capacity-so as to give to the rinsing-water of the wash that subtletinge of blue that is By the use of the paper-bluing referred to in thisparticular the operator is no better ofi than when using liquid bluing,the common bluing-bag, or other existing forms of this staple. Where asuggestion is made as to the quantity of bluing-paper required for use,it

calls for a square inch of the coated paper to each gallon of water,thus requiring twenty square inches of the bluing product to tinge a tubcontaining twenty gallons of water.

This proportion is obviously large, inconvenient, and objectionable, andpractically prohibits the acceptance of such a product by' the publicover old forms.

The bluing-pigments which are put upon paper for laundry purposes as acommercial product are generally prepared by a method which does notentirely dissolve all of the ingredients of the pigment, andconsequently particles of blue not entirely dissolved come off uponimmersion in water and upon scattering streak the clothes, frequentlyrendering it necessary to rewash the clothes to remove these bluestreaks. The paper used in connection with existing forms ofbluing-paper is generally common thick paper which becomes saturated. Atleast no effort is made to prevent the saturation. It therefore followsthat the pigment with which the paper is saturated is not given offquickly and at once or even quickly on its immersion and agitationin'water, so that the paper stock is left practically clean ofthepigment, the bluing being imparted to the water and giving to it theprecise tinge desired. On the contrary, where the paper is saturated thedegree of saturation retards in proportion to the saturation thedissolving action, and if the-paperjs removed from the water before ithas fully yielded its charge the desired result is not obtained.Furthermore, the length of time that the paper shall remain in the wateris left to experiment and conjecture, and even when the paper is removedit is not known that it has yielded all of its coloringpigment. Thebluing-paper referred to is objectionable in that the pigment may beeasily rubbed off, and consequently stains whatever it touches, nor canthe layers of such product be wound or laid directly upon the other andso remain without uniting or sticking together in a short time, whichtendency is induced by moisture attracted and held by the pigment andthe lack of further treatment at the time of manufacture to forestallthe occurrence of such a condition.

The objects of my present invention are, first, to coat or put uponpaper or other suitable medium a billing-pigment which will dissolve andgive off at once the coloring-matter held by it upon being immersed oragitated in water without risk of soiling or streaking the'clothes inthe water; second, to provide as a finished product a roll or a spool ofblu-,

ing; In the case of a spool the strip of bluing-paper is wound upon asuitable spool 0r mandrel, whereby it is cleanly and convenient tohandle and will be preserved without deterioration. The strip ofbluing-paper is perforated or marked to designate what portions thereofmay be detached to provide the proper quantity to be placed in water andenable the proper and desired tinge of blue to be imparted to thewaterfor bluing purposes.

With these objects in View the invention consists in the constructionand arrangement of my improved roll or spool of bluing-paper, all aswill hereinafter be described and afterward pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, A indicates aspool,which is preferably of wood or othersuitable material,

and B indicates a strip of paper, which is coated, preferably, on bothsides, said strip being Wound upon the spool. As shown in Fig. 3, thisstrip of paper is fiat and provided with a series of perforations orrouletting b, by.

which portions thereof may be conveniently severed.

Fig. 4 shows the paper fluted or crimped, whereby when the same is woundupon the spool, as shown in Fig.2, the greater portion of the surface ofthe paper is held out of contact with the next adjacent layer. Figs. 5and 6 show the same effect produced, together with the spacing of thelayers of the paper, by embossing the paper with letters or emblems. InFig. 7 is shown "a form of crimping. In Fig. 8 corrugations or flutesare shown.

The paper which I prefer to usev in carrying out my invention is verythin and strong, being of such weight, texture, and finish thatespecially adapts it to the purposes at hand. The paper receives thecoating of blue evenly and in a perfectly-united condition, said bluingadhering closely to the paper, being so treated, as will hereinafter bedescribed, that it will not rub off in handling. The paper used is alsonon-absorbent, yielding itself clean of all the pigment it is made tocarry upon immersion in water. The pigment is applied to the paperpreferably by immersing the sheets or strips of paper in a bath of thepigment placed in a box or vat. The method of coating the paper may bethat commonly empl0yedto wit, arranging a roller in the bath under whichthe paper is drawn, the coated end of the paper passing. throughscrapers, rollers, or other devices for the purpose of evenlydistributing the coating and removing the surplusage.

My preferred method of handling the paper in the coating thereof is totake a supply of paper in the form of a roll, the paper being preferablyfrom two to two and one-half feet wide. The paper is led from over theroll by its free end into the bath and under the submerged roller,thenout of the bath,after which it is hung up to dry. Both surfaces when dryare clouded or dusted with powdered starch, which ingredient, as is wellknown, is impervious to atmospheric moisture, and thus aids to protectthe product from the effects of the same and to prevent the layers fromsticking together when in rolled form. The paper treated as above isthen cut into strips of desired length and width. These widths havemarked upon them by perforations, indentations, or transverse rows offluting or crimping the size of a piece orcoupon to use in a givenquantity of water. By regulating the consistency of the mixture and thethickness of the coating of the pigment, the quantity of coloring-matterto be deposited can be so controlled that difierent sizes of coupons maybe adopted for tingeing a given quantity of water, the natural sizemarked off in Fig. 3 being the size I preferably use. Where the paper iscrimped, directions are given as to the number of crimps to be torn orcut olf for use in given quantities of water. This crimping or iiu tingmay be done in conjunction and used in connection with the indentationsor perforations just mentioned, as also in connection with the embossedform.

The fiuting or crimping of the paper is advantageous in that when theproduct is in rolled form its surfaces will not touch each other overthe whole area, but at intermediate points, lessening thesurface-contact and admitting air in the open spaces between the flutescontingent on the winding, and is essentially the safeguard againstdeterioration of the product.

To use the product, a portion selected is immersed in a cup of water inthe water to be treated, when the pigment is at once dissolved, givingoff its bluing matter and imparting to that quantity of water the neededtinge of blue to be distributed in the tub quantity, and this Withoutsoiling the hands. If preferred, a portion can be cast into thetub-water and the water then stirred with the hand or with a stick withthe same quick and desirable result.

It is obvi'ousthat the strip of bluing-paper can be wound in roll formwithout the use of a spool or mandrel.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction and arrangementof my invention may be made and substituted for those herein shown anddescribed without in the least departing from the nature and principleof my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an article of manufacture, a roll of bluing-paper provided withmeans for spacing the respective layers of the roll at closely-relatedpointsto form air-spaces therebetween; substantially as described.

2. A bluing-strip of the character described provided with surfaceprojections for forming air-spaces between the respective layers of thestrip when the same is wound into roll form; substantially as described.

3. A bluing-st-rip of the character described formed with surfaceprojections on both the front and rear thereof; substantially as and forthe purpose described.

4. A blui'ng-strip of the character described provided throughout itsextent with transverse corrugations whereby the same may be wound intoroll form; substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. A bluing-strip of the character described formed with surfaceprojections and coated with a protecting substance; substantially asdescribed.

6. Abluing-strip of the character described formed with surfaceprojections and coated with a powdered protecting substance; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 20th day of September, 1901.

AUGUSTUS K. PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE BAKEWELL, RALPH KALISH.

